Barriers to Achieving Mentally Agile Junior Leaders
Abstract
The Army's desire to produce agile and adaptive leaders is not a new endeavor. As early as 1999, the Army Chief of Staff recognized that the premium on tomorrows battlefield will be the ability to quickly analyze a situation and come up with innovative solutions. The speeds at which events occur and their complexity will require leaders with agile minds who can think through a problem logically, come up with a viable course of action, and translate that concept into clear, simple language to subordinates. How is it possible that the Army is still seeking the agile leaders it requires after our most senior leadership identified their need over eight years ago? To help answer this question, this paper will describe the operational environment the agile leader must be prepared to operate within and the characteristics of an agile leader. The barriers of change, culture, and climate within the Army that impact its ability to produce agile leaders will be examined. Lastly, suggested recommendations for keeping and producing agile leaders are offered to the reader.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 21, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA494283
Entities
People
- Marlon D. Blocker
Organizations
- United States Army War College